Wow, just last week, I was kiting at dusk near a jetty, when about a mile out, I saw a whole mess of birds wheeling around, and decided to check it out. When I arrived, there were schools of baitfish breaking the surface and being snacked on by pelicans and seagulls, and I rode right through that mess.

In the summer, when all the shrimp boats are out, i have seen the same exact thing. I was tacking out and noticed a huge area of disturbed water with birds EVERYWHERE. I was kind of curious so i just rode straight through it.

As i approached, I realized it was kind of like a no turning back situation and i just went for it. I immediately regretted the decision, as i was going through the area, which was about 3 times bigger than it looked, I saw fins and fish just getting blitzed by huge fish and dolphins. I zipped past the bait ball and decided I should probably never do that again.

The water here is much different than S Fla so shark sightings are very rare until they are right on top of you or in the surf zone. Im sure the numbers are similar but what you cant see....

The only shark i have ever seen kiting was a few months ago. I was taking out and saw a 3-4 ft bonnet head just cruising ahead of me. As i approached, the thing just darted and disappeared.

They are heading up the coast. According to an account in the Orlando Sentinel in 2011, they seem to show up there more in March and April around Cocoa Beach.* You could always kite in the inland waterway spots too. More info on spots at http://www.kiteboardingcocoabeach.com/Spots.html Lots of surfers may ignore the migration but then they are mentioned as the folks getting bitten at times too. I am several hours south myself and don't get up that way all that often.

The water here is much different than S Fla so shark sightings are very rare until they are right on top of you or in the surf zone. Im sure the numbers are similar but what you cant see....

The only shark i have ever seen kiting was a few months ago. I was taking out and saw a 3-4 ft bonnet head just cruising ahead of me. As i approached, the thing just darted and disappeared.

At least in this part of the coast you usually don't see the sharks, unless you are in the vantage point a helicopter view provides, but they are there. Honestly I never think about them unless I miss a landing and yard-sale wipeout in deep blue water.

A sighting I remember is actually running over a shark in 2 feet of water in Tampa Bay. It was a wide bodied grey shark like a bull shark or lemon shark, about 6 or 7 feet long that was hunting the flats, and I didn't see it until the last second because I was looking at a buddy of mine boosting behind me. I looked forward, and there was the fin right in front of me, and I had no time for evasive action. It apparently didn't see me until the last second either, because in the split second I had to get a look at it, it looked like it was just slowly cruising the sand bar. when I hit it, it freaked and bolted. We scared the bejesus out of each other!

This is very true, although Florida sharks blow the rest of the world away in terms of shear number of attacks, our fatality rate is very low. Sharks in Australia (144 fatalities/488 attacks) South Africa (49/230) are more "serious" than those in Florida (11/637). Stats from http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/st ... istics.htm

This relates to the quantity of people in the water and relative abundance of sharks who really don't like the taste of people in Florida vs. the other areas. White sharks are a lot more serious or directed in their attacks and given shear size usually can do substantial damage. Many of the Florida sharks, bite, taste and run. We have few white shark sightings off Florida. I understand they are seen on deeper wrecks in the Florida Keys and at times off NE Florida but largely are absent from reports.

Westozzy wrote:Pfft, come and live I Australia I will show you some real sharks and they are getting closer and closer to shore and they are hungrier than ever.

A 16 year old surfer was bitten on the hand at Bathtub Reef on Feb. 9, 2013. He was just entering the water to go surfing and was in about waist deep water when he estimated a 4 to 5 ft. shark hit his hand. He was fortunate the damage was pretty limited as you can see below.